Villa Ugo — Local services in Cortona

We spent a week in early June 2016 at Villa Ugo. This estate has been in the Sabatini family since the 1890s and is run by Ugo Sabatini. A friend had stayed there several times and raved about it. Ugo was wonderful and met us in a slight rain late Friday afternoon and led us up to Villa Lilliana. We were given the lower (and larger unit) in that villa. He made suggestions that Friday night and Saturday morning, he took our ideas for activities during the week and suggested convenient side trips. Ugo had business in Spain for the rest of the week but his son, vacationing from Singapore, took over seamlessly as our host. So we got the benefits of two generations of Sabatinis in terms of what towns to visit, activities and restaurants. Both Ugo and his son Errico made our reservations throughout the week. ||||The estate itself is set on a hillside with a panoramic view below of wonderful Tuscan countryside. While there are 3 villas on the property plus the 17th century family home, you feel as though you are by yourself. The three rental villas have private pools. Our villa had a well stocked kitchen which we used for cooking breakfast but ate our lunches and dinners out. It is definitely equipped to host big dinner parties including many champagne glasses if you are celebrating a special occasion. There were two tables outside-one in front and one to the side of our villa under shade for al fresco dining. Unfortunately we hit a very cold, rainy week so we did not have our breakfasts outside. But we did enjoy sitting and looking at the view in the valley below-there were 2 chairs and 2 sofas to the side of the villa for this purpose. ||||The grounds are beautifully landscaped and we walked through a flowering mimosa bower after we parked our car. We loved watching the birdsdart around the compound. Ugo knew not only the Italian name but the English name for them-swifts-perfectly named. There are many trees on the property including around our pool so we assume that it is much cooler there than in “town” during the real heat of the summer. ||||Villa Ugo is on a hillside and 7 minute drive up from the main road with estates and stone houses on either side of the road. There are turns, twists in the road and small bridges to cross and they all became landmarks to us during our week. The sides of the road were covered with wild poppies which apparently bloom in May and early June. There is a great market (wine, cheeses, meats, prepared foods plus the basics) only one minute down the main road after you descend from the villa-so about an 8 minute drive in all. Cortona, the nearest hill town, is about a 15-20 minute drive counting the stretch down from the villa. As the crow flies, Cortona is much closer but because Cortona is a hill town, there is a winding, switchback road leading up to it. We noticed that the town was more crowded on the weekend than during the week-they open a special parking section during the weekend. There are many restaurants there and we used Trip Advisor, our friend’s, Ugo’s and Errico’s recommendations to guide us. We only made a dent in the options available. ||||Villa Ugo was a great base and we would highly recommend our side trips to Perugia/Assisi, a thermal bath Terme Antica Querciolaia, a wonderful small town Pienza, the Avignonesi Winery for a fascinating tour (much better than CA versions because of the description of the unique style of planting the grapes) and then a long long lunch in a beautiful "pavilion" with open doors on 3 sides and with 8 wines. The thermal bath was recommended by Ugo and the winery was recommended by Errico. If you are up for hiking you can hike to Torreone from the estate and then on up to Cortona the “back way”. This is how the family would travel when they first bought the estate. I loved seeing the older more formal entrance to Villa Ugo and being on the Roman Road but only walked a short distance. ||||If you are traveling with an extended family or several couples, the property is particularly suited to your needs. There were just two of us and we had a wonderful time. We did things and ate places and saw towns that we would not have discovered without the expertise of the...

I'm quite sorry to say that our stay was not as I had hoped. The home was as advertised, however there was a termite infestation for 5 out of the 7 days we stayed in the Villa. While they did fumigate the home, we were never provided with any check-ins on how we were doing, nor we were offered anything to make up for the disgusting inconvenience. This infestation was known to the homeowner (as he admitted that he had an infested beam in the kitchen OF ALL PLACES!) and never disclosed to us. Had we known there was a possibility of termites throughout the lower level including the kitchen and dining rooms we would have never stayed here. We have no idea what they were spraying to kill the bugs, nor was the place properly cleaned and sanitized after the treatments. My mother is severely immunocompromised and has not been healthy since we left the Villa. Incredibly disappointed by the inaction of the owner and the tour group who helped us secure this location.||The Villa was beautiful, however I cannot in good conscience ever suggest someone book their stay here without the knowledge of the basement being overrun by termites...

FABULOUS BELATED 50th BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION! |What a spectacular evening spent in Cortona with amazing friends that have become our family… |Anyone who knows me - knows that I am a Gin Lover because of my grandfather… |So, we started off the evening at the stunning Villa Ugo for a Sabatoni Gin Tour & Tasting with a lovely stroll thru the herbal gardens that make up the fragrant recipe for their Tuscan botanical gin. It was a pleasure and honor to meet Mr. Ugo himself and learn about their Selection of nine Tuscan botanicals including olive leaves, sage, fennel, orris, lemon verbena, Juniper, coriander, thyme and lavender grown at the Villa.|Inside at their GIN bar we learned about each of their products and sampled the spectacularly fragrant gin.|We were then whisked off to their Tuscan Patio to enjoy Gin & Tonics with a lovely array of cheeses and cured meats. While enjoying our cocktails we were visited by Pino their friendly resident Fox! |Needless to say I have a new appreciation of the aromatics and recipe planning and have found our new Tuscan Gin!|I highly recommend this activity and cannot...